Staff Software Engineer

A 501(c)(3) science-and-technology research institute/foundation operating direct Neuro-AI research, life-sciences programs through Radial, and an open-science residency program.

Emeryville, CA, United States
About Astera Institute

Astera Institute supports and operates open public-goods work for science and technology. Its current activities include neuroscience-informed AGI research, AI-enabled life-sciences programs, open datasets and publishing infrastructure, and residencies for early-stage projects.

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Skills

Candidate Availability

Required and preferred rules are kept separate and reflect the wording in the original posting.

About the Role

You will define and architect infrastructure for large-scale model training and complex simulations. You will optimize neuroscience-informed reinforcement learning environments, set engineering standards, scale research prototypes into production systems, and resolve systemic technical bottlenecks.

Requirements

  • Set standards for clean, maintainable, well-tested code
  • Architect complex systems from scratch
  • Understand long-term system-design trade-offs
  • Master complex domains quickly and guide others through them
  • Lead resolution of difficult distributed-systems and kernel-level optimization challenges

Responsibilities

  • Define and architect high-performance infrastructure for large-scale model training and complex simulations
  • Design and optimize custom reinforcement learning environments informed by neuroscience
  • Set standards for clean, fast, production-grade code
  • Turn research prototypes into scalable production systems
  • Resolve systemic technical bottlenecks across optimization and technical strategy